: Neonatal sepsis is the most common cause of death in newborns in developing countries. Prompt diagnosis is the critical determinant in its outcome. As manifestations are often vague, clinically it is difficult to differentiate sepsis from non-infective conditions. Timely diagnosis is important as delay in initiation of antimicrobials can prove fatal. On the other hand empirical use of antibiotics not only increases the risk of antibiotic resistance but also delays the diagnosis of true condition. Procalcitonin (PCT) has been well evaluated in late onset sepsis but data pertaining to Early Onset Sepsis (EOS) are still lacking. We compared the diagnostic value of PCT and CRP (C-Reactive Protein) in EOS.

Aim: To compare the diagnostic value of serum PCT and CRP in early onset sepsis.

Materials and Methods: It was a prospective observational study conducted in Neonatal Intensive Care Unit of the Department of Paediatrics, Dr.S.N. Medical College, Jodhpur, India. All neonates delivered in hospitals attached to this medical college or referred here within 7 days of life and having =2 perinatal risk factors for sepsis or displaying clinical sepsis were included in the study. All enrolled neonates were subjected to sepsis screen, PCT levels and blood culture at birth or admission which ever was the earliest. PCT levels = 0.5 ng/mL and CRP levels above 8mg/l were considered positive for EOS.

Results: Sensitivity and negative predictive value of PCT were higher than CRP (90.12% vs. 50.62% and 93.33% vs. 79.06% respectively). Also it had a higher positive predictive value of 40.56% than CRP where it was 37.61%. CRP was more specific (68.95% vs. 51.4%) with overall higher diagnostic accuracy (0.64 vs. 0.61) in comparison to PCT.

Conclusion: PCT is more sensitive and has a higher negative predictive value than CRP in early onset sepsis. Higher positive predictive value and specificity of CRP suggest that, PCT should not be used alone rather should be supplemented with CRP to correctly identify early onset neonatal sepsis.